The Garden of Cosmic Speculation [Hardcover]

Charles Jencks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

Telling the story of one of the most important gardens in Europe, created by the internationally celebrated architectural critic and designer Charles Jencks and his late wife, the landscape architect and author Maggie Keswick, this book looks at The Garden of Cosmic Speculation. It is a landscape that celebrates the new sciences of complexity and chaos theory and consists of a series of metaphors exploring the origins, the destiny and the substance of the Universe. The garden is full of ideas, associations, games and memories; Jencks weaves his personal account of the garden's creation into an investigation into the revelations of recent science, using landscape and design to shed light on the way we can now conceive of the Universe. This book is illustrated with year-round photography, bringing the garden's many dimensions vividly to life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... a fascinating read, esoteric and enjoyable. It expounds the process involved in serious design - rare in garden books ... essential for anyone considering making a garden, or indeed any creative work -- Christopher Bradley-Hole Gardens Illustrated As a brave and thoughtful experiment in the study of nature in all its aspects, both book and garden are well worth lingering over New Scientist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Charles Jencks is the author of several best-selling books on architecture. He divides his time between lecturing, writing and designing in the USA, in the UK and in Europe. To visit Charles Jencks' website click here --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0711222169
• ISBN-13: 978-0711222168
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,283,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where Science Meets Art, Philosophy, and the Environment, December 17, 2008

By 

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel "World Music Explorer" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (Paperback)

Having some knowledge and professional experience in the sciences, philosophy, and art, I looked forward to receiving this book. I was not disappointed. It is a sumptuous feast of design and thought. The marriage of art and science is hardly a new concept, even in gardens through the ages (Shlain's Art & Physics. Parallel visions in space, time, and light; Gamwell's Exploring the Invisible. Art, science, and the spiritual). Of interest is the garden itself and whether this book effectively presents the history, concepts, and appearance of the landscape. The garden covers an extensive plot of land, 30 acres, in Scotland. A distinguished bevy of scientists, philosophers, designers, artists, and craftsmen assisted architect Charles Jencks in successfully fulfilling his brave conceit of feting modern scientific principles at Portrack House. If mathematician and logician Lewis Carroll had lived in this century, his Alice might have explored this garden. But this is not some museum of science exhibit; it is steeped in the artistic interpretation of scientific structures and functions as well as their implications, all in large scale, in additional to more explicit scientific equations, nomenclature, and text. Fundamentally, however, it is still a formal garden, with well-trimmed foliage, grasses, and blooming plants, where one strolls and wanders, open to sensory stimuli and quiet contemplation. I find it first rate throughout. Featured are DNA helices, messenger RNA and ribosomal formation of proteins; the wave-particle behavioral duality of nuclear subunits; Waddington-like developmental landscapes suggesting black holes and waveform attractors; a water cascade over bifurcating forms after the Big Bang; and sensory representations assisted by aromatic thyme and breeze-activated chimes. The 257-page book is filled with excellent colored photographs and drawings and descriptions that summarize and indicate rather than document and pedantically instruct. Although being in the garden is the only proper way to appreciate all the work involved, this book is the next best thing and it is one to slowly savor. You should also consider the CD of Michael Gandolfi's grand symphonic impressions of this garden.

1 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars WEIRD GARDEN, February 22, 2007

By 

Mark Priebe "WOLFRUN" (READING PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (Paperback)

ALOT OF TIME WENT INTO THIS GARDEN BUT I THINK THEY MISSED THE BOAT